NLL Insider

Lest we forget, this coming weekend is a pretty huge one all over the place, with college fallball events like the Colleluori Classic, Navy Fall Classic and Catamount Classic going on in the states. Another big event is Team Canada’s tryout for the world field lacrosse championship next summer in Manchester, England. Most of the tryouts are in Toronto, but there will also be a scrimmage vs. 2009 NCAA Tournament team Notre Dame in Buffalo on Sunday – which will be covered over on InsideLacrosse.com.

As part of the build-up for the weekend, here’s a release from the Team Canada folks…Enjoy!

The lives of brothers Brodie and Patrick Merrill revolve around lacrosse.

The Merrills teach the nuances of Canada’s national summer sport at The Hill Academy, a school that attracts top teen student-athletes to its facilities just north of Toronto, and they play at the elite level.

They’ll be among 55 hopefuls on the athletic fields of St. Michael’s College School in Toronto this weekend trying out for the team that will represent Canada in the world field lacrosse championship in Manchester, England, next July. Intrasquad games on Saturday begin at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m . and are open to the public.

“Everyone is really excited,’’ says Brodie Merrill. “When you’re in the tryout scenario with only a weekend to prove yourself, you make sure you’re prepared and ready to stand out in some way so you can make the team.’’

For most of the year, the Merrill brothers are all over the map.

During the winter, and on top of their weekday jobs at The Hill Academy, the Merrills commute for games with their National Lacrosse League indoor pro teams. Brodie, 28, will suit up with the Edmonton Rush and Patrick, 30, will be with the Orlando Titans in 2010.

When the NLL season ends in May, they join the Toronto Nationals for the Major Lacrosse League outdoor pro season. The Nationals play on weekends so the Merrills also play indoor amateur games with the Brampton Excelsiors of Major Series Lacrosse on weekday nights to stay sharp for NLL action. It was a successful summer as the Nationals won the MLL championship on Aug. 23 in Annapolis, Maryland, defeating Denver 10-9, and the Excelsiors won the Mann Cup on Sept. 13 in New Westminster, B.C., edging the host Salmonbellies 9-7 in a deciding seventh game.

“It was special to win those championships with my brother,’’ says Brodie Merrill. “The Brampton team, especially. We had a couple of sets of brothers on that team and the Sandersons (father Terry, an assistant coach, with son Josh, a forward, and nephew Phil, a defenceman), too, so it felt like a family.’’

While Brodie has won more individual awards than Patrick, Patrick is up 2-0 in NLL titles after being part of two Toronto Rock championship teams.

“That hasn’t come up but I’m sure that if push came to shove he’d go back to those,’’ the six-foot-four younger brother replies when asked about sibling rivalry. “But he’s been a player who’s had a lot of success in the sport. He’s a great leader and a great character player. He’s a guy you hate playing against but, you listen to what guys who’ve played with him say, he’s a guy you want on your team.’’

Players taking part in the national team camp this weekend who were members of both the Nationals and Excelsiors championship teams are the Merrills, Phil Sanderson, Shawn Williams and Dan Dawson.

The weekend camp includes two split-squad exhibition games in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park on Sunday with the University of Notre Dame supplying the opposition. There’ll be further intrasquad games Sunday at 6:30 p.m. and Monday at 9 a.m. at St. Michael’s College School, where head coach David Huntley and selected players will also conduct a youth clinic from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon.

While they’ve won various championships as teammates, one thing the Merrills have yet to do is play together on Canada’s world team. Patrick was at the 2006 world title game in London to watch Brodie help Canada win it all.

“I made it to the final camp last time,’’ says Patrick Merrill. “For me, this is really my last kick at the can to try and make Team Canada.

“I’ve worked pretty hard to prepare for it. I’m excited and a little bit nervous. I hope I show well on the weekend. It’s a team I really want to be a part of. It’s always been a dream of mine to wear a Team Canada jersey and I’m looking forward to trying to achieve that goal this weekend.’’

Huntley also was head coach of the Nationals during the summer.

“I’ve known Dave for a while now and he’s a great coach,’’ says Patrick Merrill. “I’m not sure of what he’s thinking in terms of where I stand for these tryouts. I’d like to think I’ve got a good shot at it and that I could hang with these guys.’’

They’ll never get rich playing lacrosse, and that’s okay.

“It’s a huge part of my life,’’ says Brodie Merrill. “ I coach kids at The Hill and I just love playing the game.

“I’ve got a great deal of passion for it. There’s a relatively small window to play the game so, while I’m healthy and able to, I’ll pursue it. I feel fortunate that I’m able to do something I love to do. The salaries are not what you see in other pro sports but lacrosse is growing and has a great future. I’m making a decent living pursuing something I love and I couldn’t ask for more.

“Any athlete would tell you, regardless of the pay, they play for the love of the game and it’s no different in lacrosse. I’d take the same approach if I played in the NBA or the NHL.’’

In the seven-game Mann Cup thriller, the Merrills had to check New Westminster’s Jordan Hall, who just happened to be a Nationals teammate and who also is a member of the Titans with Patrick Merrill. Hall, from Burnaby, B.C., was on the 2006 world title team and is among the 55 who’ll be at St. Mike’s this weekend.

“It’s tough when you play an emotional seven-game series like that but you try to leave it on the floor,’’ Brodie Merrill said of the Mann Cup showdown. “I certainly respect what he did in that series.

“It was one of those series where, in a lot of ways, we feel we stole it, but that’s sport. You move on. I look forward to being his teammate again. Jordan has been a great teammate and has become a great friend of mine.’’

Hall echoes those comments.

“You put everything aside,’’ Hall says of playing against the Merrills last month. “You see a different jersey and that’s about it.

“Friendships go out the window but, as soon as the series is over, it’s `Congratulations.’ They were lucky enough to win but if we’d had won they’d have been congratulating us at the end.’’

There’s no doubt, however, that he’d rather play with the Merrills than against them.

“Brodie is the best D-guy in the world right now,’’ says Hall.

Like Brodie Merrill, Hall is not assuming he’ll be picked for Manchester even though he’s played well for the national team in the past.

“I have to show that I can do whatever it takes to find a spot on the team,’’ he says. “I know they’re bringing in a lot of young good players and older guys I know and have played against.

“It’s a little nerve wracking. You’ve got to go in and prove you belong. I’ll try and show Huntley that I deserve to be on the team.’’

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